Sunday, April 6, 2008

Pad Thai w/Shrimp or Chicken

Laura - this is especially for you and Dave. :)

From the Betty Crocker Cookbook:

Prep: 35 min Cook: 5 min 4 Servings

Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1 package (6-8 oz) linguine-style stir-fry rice noodles (rice stick noodles)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped, or 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
12 oz frozen cooked peeled deveined medium shrimp, thawed - or 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/4 cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
4 medium green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves

1. Cook noodles till soft but firm. Drain and rinse with cold water

2. In small bowl, stir lim juice, water, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper and 1 tablespoon of oil until well mixed; set aside.

3. In nonstick wok or 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and shallot in oil about 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until starting to brown. Add eggs. Good about 2 minutes, stirring gently and constantly, until scrambled but still moist.

4. Stir in noodles and lime juice mixture. Increase heat to high. Cook about 1 minute, tossing constantly with 2 wooden spoons, until sauce begins to thicken. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing with 2 wooden spoons, until noodles are tender. Place on serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with additional chopped dry-roasted peanuts and green onions if desired.


Ok, the recipe says it makes 4 servings, but there's no way the two of us could eat half of this in one sitting - I'd say this is more like 6-8 servings. Also, it gives the option of fish or soy sauce. We tried fish sauce once and found it to be the most repulsive thing we've ever tried to cook with!! I really REALLY recommend just using soy sauce. :) (fish sauce smells and tastes like old, rotting fish...honestly) A few more changes we make: If we don't have rice noodles, we'll often just use the whole wheat spaghetti noodles we already have and it's just as good. We also don't chop the peanuts (we're lazy), but it's good with whole ones in there. When I make it, I use a LOT more cilantro than the recipe calls for because cilantro is DELICIOUS and when you buy it, you have to buy a lot more than 1/4 cup and I don't want to waste it all. And when we're making it for just the two of us, we only use one package of bean sprouts (about a cup and a half) and we still have tons of leftovers. It does heat up really well for lunches, though. :)

Oh, and I have NO idea why you're supposed to use 2 wooden spoons... I just use whatever is on hand...

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